STUDIO-ONLINE

There are certainly places on Iceland that look like they belong on another world. Rough and empty lavascapes swell up around extinct and active volcanoes. Glaciers carve their way through soft rock, creating serrated ridges and valleys as defined as cut crystal. There are steaming, sulfurous blue lakes and geysers that spit up water like hidden, landlocked whales

The exhibition Cold. Hot. Iceland consists of nearly twenty photos in colour, presenting the unique Icelandic landscape in the form of reportage.

The exhibition “Cold.Hot.Iceland” is presented by the Nordic Council of Ministers Information Office in Lithuania in connection with the Icelandic chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2004.

Cepulinskaite worked as press photographer in the biggest Lithuanian daily “Lietuvos rytas” (1997-2007). Since 1993 she is a member of the Union of the Lithuanian Art Photographers, and in 2001 she became member of the Lithuanian Press Photographers Club and in 2007 she is a member of International Federation of Journalists.

She has participated in numerous exhibitions( had 16 solo exhibitions) and got awards at many institutions around the world, including FIAP gold medal in Mundid Photofestival (1998, Rovinj, Croatia), Diploma in 3rd International Art Photography Exhibition Vallombrosa Abbey, (1997, Florence, Italy), DVF (APA) Golden Medal in Hertener Photosalon (1994, Germany). She had 16 solo exhibitions. Her artworks are in many other fine institutions, private collectors around the world. She was the recipient of a 1995 and 1999 scholarship of the year for the young artists in Lithuania.

Artist’s Reception: Saturday June 7th 6:00 – 9:00 pm
and Sunday June 8th 2:00 – 5:00 pm

Something Unexpected Contemporary Art Gallery
152 Main St., Nyack, NY 10960
Telephone: 845 – 358 – 1196
www.something-unexpected.com
Hours: Wed. - Sun: 12:00 – 8:00 pm

The works of 14 critically acclaimed sculptors, including by Margaret Hunter, Peter Burke, Richard Kindersley and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi are the exhibits currently assembled for Millstream Sculpture Garden’s second season.

Curated by architect Michael Newberry and art consultant Geoffrey Bertram, the exhibition at Michael’s single storey steel and glass house commences Saturday 3^rd May 2008.

Set in tranquil, purpose-built gardens within Newberry’s riverside property, the exhibition – located midway between Salisbury and Bath, one minute from the A36 into Warminster, Wiltshire – represents an inspiring fusion of contemporary architecture with landscaping entirely designed with a single objective: the promotion of contemporary sculpture in ideal, intimately scaled surroundings.

Newberry states, “From the outset, I designed Millstream to incorporate exterior sculpture. The light, the location, the stream running alongside and the beautiful surroundings provide an ideal backdrop for sculpture. I’ve always liked sculpture, probably because it is three-dimensional and tactile, both of which appeal to the architect and designer in me. But it’s more than that. Having sculpture in the garden is just an extension of a need to be surrounded by beautiful things. We aim to set sculpture in a setting where form is enhanced not only by light and shade but also by contrast to the surrounding foliage, ground textures and water.”

Geoffrey Bertram, whose experience in running galleries in Edinburgh, Toronto and London’s Cork Street and whose extensive knowledge of contemporary sculpture has complemented Newberry’s own vision, added: “You enter Michael’s property and immediately know that everything is completely right: well-lit interior spaces are ideal for the small and medium-scale work of Peter Burke, for example, while Tim Harrisson’s marble sculptures, though displayed inside the house, are juxtaposed with the outdoor sculptures that sit in a perfect background of riverside trees, sloping lawn and raised terraces.”

Margaret Hunter, Richard Kindersley and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi works are enhanced by sculptures from: Chris Buck, Christine Fox, Cathy Lewis, Carole Waller, Rosie Musgrave, Peter Burke, Nigel Cann, Tim Harrisson, Jonathan Leslie, Guy Thomas, Henry Swanzy and Raymond Wirick.

The gardens are designed by the internationally acclaimed landscape gardener John Brookes – a former Chairman of the Society of Garden Designers, and author of, among other books, Small Gardens (Dorling Kindersley, 2006) and with whom Michael Newberry has worked since the seventies.

Construction of the house was completed in 2003. The result of this Newberry-Brookes collaboration in southern England was an award – for development in a conservation area – from West Wiltshire District Council (WWDC) in 2005.

The exhibition, running from 3^rd May to 28^th September 2008, is open during weekends (12-5pm) and Bank Holidays - and by appointment. Entry:FREE

Tel: (44) 1985 213360. Email info@millstreamsculpturegarden.com

For Images and further information about Millstream Gallery go to www.millstreamsculpturegarden.com

Teresa Lawton, one of the most accomplished contemporary British artists will be exhibiting her new works at The Old Guildhall, in Corfe Castle.

Her abstract work with transcending visions of her Southern English country side are captivating and inspiring.

Open Thursday – Sunday 11am – 4pm and by appointment.

THE OLD GUILDHALL
47 East St, Corfe Castle, Dorset, BH20 5EE
Tel: 07890 559246
Web: www.teresalawton.co.uk

Dearraindrop return to Italy with the second solo show Scared Straight. Dearraindrop is made up of young US artists (Billy Grant, Joe Grillo, Laura Grant), who live in Virginia Beach.

A Dearraindrop show is an encyclopaedic bazaar which exhibits everything deliciously artificial which one might expect to find in a teenager’s bedroom, with a fantastic effect of barbaric chaos and irrepressible vital exultation. Anything is possible in the magical kaleidoscopes they create, in a jubilant explosion of forms and saturated fluorescent colours.

DRD are also extraordinary talents who spring from an environment of authentically popular creativity, who found their first publicity in the rough pages of comic fanzines, or in the environment of riotous rock concerts. A very vibrant jumble made up of expressions of a group of creative youngsters, clearly skilled and talented, but more interesting because they enlarge, with their great number, the volume of a “mass avant-garde”, which has finally taken form rather than for the determination to emerge from anonymity.
Indeed DRD are the most exceptional group to emerge from this intricate and vibrant undergrowth.

IN B SIDE PROJECT ROOM

Devin and Ian Flynn: DRAWINGS AND ANIMATIONS

Into the Project Room there is the first solo show in Europe of Devin and Ian Flynn: Drawings (Ian) and animations (Devin). Ian is an explosive and refined drawer while Devin makes animation for TV. A concentrated of irreverences and transgression (warning: are you over 18 ?).

Perugi artecontemporanea
via Giordano Bruno 24 b
35124 PADOVA Italia
Phone: +39 049 8809.507

Sculpture, Video Installation and Painted Photography
By Rachel Harrison (maybe the best of the show)

If you want to see the state of American Art don’t visit this show, make time to visit studios when there are open studios, which is something these curators never appear to do. Almost nothing is this show can be classified as art, frankly I saw more artistic expression on “Project Runway” than inside the Whitney Museum or the Armory. As for the additional exhibits in the Armory, the actual rooms are more impressive than the things displayed within.

This Biennial is more to do with who you know than to do with art. Apart from a few artists, most of the stuff found here is not done by artists, but by participating want-to-be artists, who failed miserably in showing any kind of artistic expression.

The installations, the sound effects, the videos can be summarized as “What are they thinking, are they thinking at all?”

If this show reflects American Art, then I put my money on Contemporary Chinese or Japanese Art. But as this show does not represent the new and inspiring work by contemporary American artists, I hope the Whitney hires better curators for their next Biennial.

From March 6 to 23, installations and performances will be presented at the Armory, 67th St. and Park Avenue.

Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street
New York, NY 10021
Website: www.whitney.org

By M.A.B.

Averroé, 1967 © Giulio Paolini

In connection with Moderna Museet’s 50th Anniversary in 2008, three exhibitions will focus on cultural ‘hotspots’ around the world in the 60’s: Rio de Janeiro, Milan/Turin and Los Angeles. The idea is to explore the period when Moderna Museet was created from an international perspective, by featuring a representative selection of works of art, architecture, design, literature, film and music never before shown together in Sweden.

Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, Time & Place: Milan/Turin, 1958-1968 investi­gates a decisive moment in Italian art, focusing on these two cities as emblematic places of birth for a new identity. The exhibition explores the shift from the ‘Infor­male’ to the Arte povera, in a unique selection which gives a contemporary reflection of the period.

Proposing a radically new perspective, Time & Place: Milan/Turin, 1958-1968 is intended to concentrate on issues developed by this environment, such as the mo­nochrome, the zero degree of signs, and the tabula rasa of conceptual practice.

The Italian avant-garde was recognized, already in the 1960s, by former Moderna Museet director Pontus Hultén, who acknowledged the leading roles held by Piero Manzoni and Lucio Fontana, who in 1967 presented a solo show at Moderna Museet.

In the first section, the exhibition presents the situation ‘beyond the Informale’, with the birth of Italian experiences, internationally known, of formal and chromatic re­duction, through the use of monochrome and the conception of space in researches beyond the surface: next to Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni, artists such as Enrico Castellani, Dadamaino, Gianni Colombo, Agostino Bonalumi, Paolo Scheggi, Mario Nigro, Rodolfo Aricò are represented.

The second part of the exhibition has a documentary tone, presenting the moment of artistic transition from Milan to Turin, reconstructing seminal events and exhibiting sculptural objects, photographs, invitation cards, catalogues from the period. This section will also explore the importance of the new sculpture as object, presenting, among others, Manzoni’s Linee (Lines) and Merda d’artista (Artist’s Shit), sculptu­res by Fausto Melotti and Lucio Fontana, works by Vincenzo Agnetti and Gastone Novelli together with pieces by Valerio Adami, Enrico Baj, and Lucio del Pezzo.

The third part features artworks which anticipate and conflate the developments of Arte povera, an approach based on incorporating unconventional materials with a prevailing conceptual dimension. This is a crucial moment when the frame of refe­rence is moved from post-war Milan to the pulsating social reality of Turin, which sees the emergence of future masters such as Giulio Paolini, Luciano Fabro, Miche­langelo Pistoletto, Mario and Marisa Merz, Gianni Piacentino, Carolrama, Alighiero Boetti, Giuseppe Penone, Giovanni Anselmo, Giorgio Griffa, Paolo Icaro and others.

In connection with the exhibition, Moderna Museet will also host a programme of films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and other Ita­lian film-makers.
Curator: Luca Massimo Barbero, Venice, Italy.

Project curator: Cecilia Widenheim, Moderna Museet.

Moderna Museet
Skeppsholmen, Stockholm
Phone: +46 8 5195 5279
Website: www.modernamuseet.se

SEMINOLE EVERGLADES
from EARL CUNNINGHAM’S AMERICA
Earl Cunningham (1893 - 1977)
St. Augustine, Florida. c. 1945
Oil on fiberboard
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gift of the Honorable Marilyn L. Mennello and Mr. Michael A. Mennello, 1997.162

Organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, “Earl Cunningham’s America” examines the paintings of landscape artist Earl Cunningham (1893-1977), who worked in the tradition of memory painting. This retrospective, which is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, presents Cunningham as a folk modernist who used the flat space and brilliant color common to folk art to create sophisticated compositions with complex meanings about the nature of American life. The exhibition features 50 of the more than 400 canvases Cunningham painted during his life and places his work in the context of the folk art revival that brought Edward Hicks, Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses, Horace Pippin and other folk masters to national attention.

Cunningham’s imaginary landscapes are filled with whimsical surprises: Pink flamingos dot the shoreline of the Maine coast, New England cottages sit at the edge of Florida swamps, Viking ships float in harbors with schooners and Seminole Indians wear feathered headdresses. In his make-believe world, Cunningham offered nostalgic views of the past based on his own appreciation of a life without modern encumbrances. His fascination with the past dovetailed in the 1920s and 1930s with a national revival of interest in vernacular culture and American folk art.

American Folk Art Museum
Lincoln Square Branch
2 Lincoln Square
(Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets)
New York, NY
Telephone:(212) 265-1040
Web site: www.folkartmuseum.org

Dr. Whirlwind, Cayuse Tribe, ca. 1905
Photo by Lee Moorhouse.
From the Division of Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Library System.

Two upcoming exhibits (January 26–June 8, 2008) at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Washington State highlight the arts and culture of the Plateau Indians.

Peoples of the Plateau: The Indian Photographs of Lee Moorhouse, 1898-1915 displays historic photos by Lee Moorhouse that serve as a visual record of Native life in the interior Northwest as it transitioned from frontier life to the modern era. This photography exhibit was organized by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

This Place Called Home represents the best of the Burke’s eastern Washington collections, including beadwork, cradle boards, baskets and blankets. A notable feature of the show is a series of in-gallery artist demonstrations and video interviews with tribal elders discussing their family heirlooms and ancestors.

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Telephone: (206) 543-5590
Web site: www.washington.edu/burkemuseum

In this on-going workshop geared to stimulating kids’ natural creative talents, they can build and test their own one-of-a-kind creations! Tinkering is an exploratory way to learn about the structure of things, the materials of which things are made, forces and energy used to make things go and how things are controlled. Designed for children ages 5 to 11, activities in the Tinkerer’s Workshop build creative problem solving and critical thinking skills through project-based learning and the engineering design process.

Tinkerer’s Workshop exhibit components include:

Investigation Stations to experiment with electrical circuits, color and light, and motion from gears, pulleys and springs; a Design and Modeling Center, where kids can capture a design concept using a variety of new and recycled craft materials; K’Nex, Legos and real hardware like pegboard squares, nuts, bolts, wheels, hinges and pulleys at the Building Stations for kids to build with; and Testing Centers, which are equipped with ramps, air blowers, timers and scales.

After assembling a parachute, kids can test it at the Pig Parachute Drop Tower. They can also record a video describing the making of their one-of-a-kind creation at the Tinkerer’s Video Diary.

Austin Children’s Museum
201 Colorado St.
Austin, TX
Telephone: (512) 472-2499
Web site: www.austinkids.org

Geoffrey Holder as Baron Samedi from the film Live and Let Die

This show represents the first full-scale museum exhibition devoted to the life and work of Tony Award-winning dancer, choreographer, character actor, costume designer, director, painter, photographer and author Holder (best known as 7 Up’s “Uncola Man” and for his appearances in the popular films Annie and Live and Let Die). The exhibit spotlights Holder’s achievements beyond the stage, as a visual artist. His figurative paintings are powerful images that draw on his Caribbean background and African roots. Holder’s works feature scenery and florals, performers and, most especially, dramatic portraits. Also displayed are photographs, costume designs and memorabilia that document Holder’s wide-ranging interests and accomplishments.

Nassau Country Museum
One Museum Drive
Roslyn Harbor, NY
Telephone: (516) 484-9338
Web site: www.nassaumuseum.com